A Peculiar Day that Changed My Life
by EthelCBG
Summary: Ethel Alessandra has spent her whole life being abused by her step-parents, but one day everything changes and she discovers that she is a peculiar. The home may be a dream come true for her but memories don't fade that easily. I don't own any of the characters except The Millings family and Ethel Alessandra. All the rest belong to Ransom Riggs. Movie Verse.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

Well, hello there. I'm Ethel, Ethel Alessandra. Have you ever wondered if your life could get any better, when it is already as bad as it is? You see, I live with my Step-Parents and Step-Brother. It is horrible there. My Step Parents hate me with all their heart and soul, sometimes I wonder how I even ended up with them.

Here is how my routine went:

My step-father pounded on the door loudly and clearly, angrily. "Get up, you freak!" He shouted at the top of his lungs. Getting up, I groaned and got ready as quick as I could, hoping not to get any consequence from my Step-Dad. I quickly scrambled downstairs to make breakfast for the whole family. My step-parents treated me like a maid, no even worse- a slave. Once I had finished cooking and waited for them to eat, my step dad punched me in the face, causing me to fall on the floor. He laughed evilly, as if it was some sort of silly skit. Picking myself up, "I hate you…" I muttered quietly to myself.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY YOUNG LADY?" My step-mom screeched at the top of her lungs.

"N-Nothing…" I quickly replied, not wanting anymore punishment.

As quick as lightning, my step-mom dragged me by my collar and dragged me to the cellar. She there whipped me a hundred times, I was left there naked with cane marks.

Later On, both my parents would leave the house and I would be alone with my Step-Brother. Once they had left, my step-brother rushed to the cellar to free me. His name was David Miller, he was a nice and kind boy, unlike his parents. He was 12 years old, whereas I was 15. I quickly thanked him and put on my clothes, however suddenly I felt something strange going through in my body. I was emotionally unstable now, tears were streaming down my puffed up cheek. Suddenly the weather changed from being a sunny day to being a rainy, sad and gloomy day.

I quickly looked up and wiped my tears away. How did this happen? Was it my doing? There was only one way to find out. I tried to think of happy thoughts, Ice Cream and waffles, Pink Unicorns jumping over the rainbow. Immediately, the sky changed from being rainy and gloomy to being sunny and warm. This really was my doing. I could not tell anyone about this, especially my step-parents. They would use me.

So, I decided that I needed to flee. I took my favourite stringed bag and started to pack my things that I would need and want to take along, I am never ever coming back. I packed my clothes, photos of my family, a few books and my camera. After that, I waved and said my farewells to my brother. He knew I couldn't stay here, he felt for me and I told him that I would never forget him. I promised to come back to see him one day in the future.

I had no idea in mind where I was to go, but the marks on my back were hurting me so much that I was losing my breath. The weather was indeed changing according to my mood, suddenly a dark blue Peregrine was watching me from a tree branch above. Finally, I couldn't take it, I collapsed on the road. The last thing I remember seeing was the dark blue Peregrine transforming into a woman. After that, everything blacked out.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

 **Recap:**

 **The last thing I remembered was the dark blue Peregrine turning into a tall figured woman, after that I blacked out.**

When I had awoken, I was definitely not in Florida. How on earth did I get to this strange foreign looking place? My stringed bag was still on my back, as I could still feel it. Slowly, I picked myself up and I looked around, gazing and scanning the room. There were many eyes laid upon me, the lady whom turned into a bird earlier was there; she must have been the one to save me after I blacked out.

"She's awake!" A young girl with curly golden locks exclaimed, who did not look more than 6 years old.

I rubbed my eyes and fluttered my eyes open, seeing that there were children around me, keeping their attention on me. My body still ached from the daily beatings I was given for no reason.

"H-Hi?" I finally stuttered out.

"Hello my dear. I'm Miss Peregrine, delighted to meet you-" The Dark haired woman smiled.

"Y-You... You turned into a bird b-before I blacked out!" I exclaimed, still shocked.

"Why yes, " She smiled, chuckling.

"Well you see, everyone here, are known as" She paused.

"Peculiar. " She continued.

Peculiar. Yeah, like freaks like me. Everyone in my family, well except my brother hated me with all their life.

"Our abilities don't fit in the outside world, so we live in places like this," She explained.

Wait. They all have special abilities too? So maybe they had similar experiences with me too!

"You mean in Wales? " I asked, since I realized this place was Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, the place my mom used to tell me about long ago before she was killed.

"Why, anywhere really. "She paused again.

"You see I'm the type of peculiar that they call, an Ymbryne-"

"Well yeah, you can turn into a bird. " I pointed out.

"Why yes I do-" She smiles.

"But the Ymbryne's main skill is the manipulation of time, " She explained.

"We create a loop-"

"A loop? " I questioned, I was confused.

"Why a loop, a loop preserves the last 24 hours. We choose the right time, the right day and then the day is yours to live in forever, where we are safe from the outside world, " She told me.

"Were you the one who saved me?" I asked, turning my head and attention towards her, curious about what exactly happened after I blacked out.

"Yes. You were almost going to be devoured by the ghostly hollows," She told me.

"Almost devoured by what?" I stared at her blankly, clearly confused of what she had just said.

"Hollows. Also known as the hollowgasts. For years, they hunt peculiars for their abilities," Miss Peregrine explained.

"Oh..." Was my only reply that came out from my mouth. My mother had told me about these monsters. I believe it was these monsters that killed her. Her eyes were missing when I found her dead, perhaps I should approach Miss Peregrine about this matter.

"What's the matter, Ethel?" Miss Peregrine asks me, clearly sensing that something was not right as I had blanked out.

"Well...These 'Hollows" you talk about, do they eat the eyes of Peculiars once they capture them? " I ask shyly and timidly.

"Yes they do, why?" She asked me curiously and cautiously.

I gave a heavy sigh. I guess I would have to open up to someone someday. I might as well tell them what had happened as I would be staying here from now on, so I should learn to get comfortable with them.

"My mother eyes were missing when I found her dead..."I whispered out softly, but loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. Never has a day passed by that I don't miss or think about her.

"I'm so sorry about that, Ethel..." Miss Peregrine sympathetically gave me her condolences.

"What was her name?" The girl with golden curly locks asked, looking at me with curious eyes, her chocolate brown eyes locking with mine.

I couldn't help it. I had to please her.

"Her name was Veronica Cassidy. " I finally admitted. I hadn't said that name for nearly 3 years. I was 12 when she died.

"Was she a peculiar too?" A girl who looked similar to the previous girl's age asked. She had hazel brown hair which were neatly braided into two plaits.

"I'm not sure." I simply answered. It was the truth, I didn't know. Maybe I would soon.

"Why not you get to know the children here, Ethel?" Miss Peregrine suggested after a long silence.

"Why, that would be wonderful," I smiled gratefully, it would be nice to actually know their names and not referring them to the girl or the boy.

"This is Claire, " Miss Peregrine spoke, referring to the young girl with curly golden locks. I wonder what her peculiarity was.

"I'm Fiona, " The girl with hazel brown hair which were braided into two neat plaits introduced.

"What's your peculiarity? " I asked curiously, looking towards the girl.

"You'll see quite soon, don't worry Ethel, " She assured me while giggling like the little girl she was.

"I'm Hugh. " The young boy next to her smiled.

"I have bees living within me, I control them, " He explained his peculiarity.

I stared in awe at him. Wouldn't it be so cool if you could have bees living within you, so if you were in danger or angry at someone, you could defend yourself.

"Hello. I'm Bronwyn! " A girl around 9-10 with curly brown hair smiled and greeted.

"My Peculiarity is Strength." she told me, proudly. She demonstrated by lifting the couch with her right hand. I was in amazed, I've never seen or met anyone so strong before.

"Hello. " a voice spoke. Immediately, I jumped out of my seat in shock.

"W-who said that? " I asked, stuttering out and still recovering from my shock.

The voice laughed and chuckled softly.

"I'm Millard and my peculiarity as you can see is invisibility."

"Oh... " Was my reply. I was stunned, being invisible would be so cool! You can like scare the heck out of people.

"Wait... Are you naked? " I asked curiously. Where was his clothes?

"Millard. Go put some clothes on!" Miss Peregrine told him.

"Oh alright. " He groaned as he walked out.

Next, a boy with blonde hair nicely gel-ed up and dressed in a smart suit and tie attire smiled. He looked around my age.

"Hello, the name's Horace and it's a pleasure to meet you. Nice dress by the way. " He held out his hand to shake mine.

Next, a blonde haired girl with sky blue eyes smiled. On her feet were heavy shoes that were supposedly made of lead. They looked heavy. She looked around 16-18.

"Hi, I'm Emma. And well my peculiarity is Air and I'm um... Lighter than air, reason being for wearing these lead shoes." She explained, probably because I was staring at her feet, oops.

Wow. Lighter than air? That's so well... Peculiar!

Next, a fiery red haired girl with long black gloves on her arms smiled.

"Hello. My name is Olive and I control fire. " She demonstrated, taking off her gloves and started a small spark with her bare hands.

A boy around 16-18 with jet black hair spoke. He looked grumpy and sad.

"Hi. I'm Enoch and I can bring anything to life for a short period of time. " He smiled. Oh my gosh, did he actually smile at me? I think I might be blushing now. Oops.

Lastly, twins who wore cloth over them waved at me.

"That's the twins. " Miss Peregrine explained.

I nodded in response.

I couldn't contain my excitement for a new beginning without my horrible step parents.

 **A/N**

Well, I hoped you liked it! Don't forget to leave down reviews.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

 _Before I knew it, I found myself curled up in an unfamiliar room. I had definitely not gone psychopathic, and this definitely was not a dream, but it felt like the most surreal dream._

 _The walls of the room were painted pastel purple, my favorite colour. It reminded me of my mother a lot because she used to wear purple most of the time, and her favorite flower were violets._

As I pulled off the covers, I stretched my arms and gave out a little yawn. Then, I turned my head and scanned through the room. This was rather a huge room, in comparison to my previous room, which was super cramped. I could barely move, except to go the toilet or to go in and out of the room.

I was sharing this new room with the older children since I'm around their age. I'm sharing it with Emma and Olive. Emma's favorite colour is baby blue, so mostly everything on her side of the room were blue. Her side of the room reminds me of gigantic puffy clouds because of the shade. Olive on the other hand, adores red. So almost all her things, on her side of the room were fiery red. It reminded me of her peculiarity, fire.

I glanced at my watch which was worn on my wrist.

 ** _8.00 a.m._**

I decided to head downstairs and see what the other children were doing. As I walked down the rather large, smooth, wooden chocolate coated staircase, I saw that most the children were already seated down at the dining table waiting for the rest to arrive so they could have breakfast.

"Oh my... I'm so sorry to keep you waiting for so long, " I apologized quickly.

"No need to apologize, Ethel, " Miss Peregrine told me, her soft gentle voice, tingling in my ears, a warm smile hanging upon her mouth.

 _I just let out a small smile._

Then, I approached the dining table and took the seat next to Emma as that was the only seat left. When everyone was seated, Miss Peregrine cleared her throat, and the whole hall fell silent.

"Thank you. Now, thank you all for arriving almost all on time. You may start eating, " Miss Peregrine announced smiling.

Everyone then started digging into their food.

However, I noticed that the little girl with golden locks was not eating. Soon enough, Miss Peregrine realized too.

"Claire? Why aren't you eating?" Miss Peregrine asked her, full of concern.

Hugh spoke for her, "She's embarrassed in front of Ethel, "

I was taken aback and shocked. Why would anyone be embarrassed in front of me?

I mean her peculiarities can't have been that embarrassing. Even though I came from a horrible family background, my insecurities were still within me as well as many other negative things.

"No, don't be, " I kindly smiled at her.

Miss Peregrine smiled broadly at Claire and winked at her.

Wait, why did she wink? I didn't get it.

Soon enough, all my confusion vanished because everything came clear to me.

Claire plunged her fork into a few pancakes and slowly fed it to the back of her head, and then I realized there was another mouth, except that it was bigger, like a monster's mouth. The mouth then chewed the lovely, delicious hot pancakes down.

Soon enough, everyone had finished eating and they helped Miss Peregrine with the dishes. Once they had done their part, they skipped along to their respective chores.

I sat on the couch, deep in thought. My mother, was a peculiar? But who was she? All I knew was that when I was 12, I found her dead. My dad, who used to be so kind and loving blamed me. He married another woman not so long after my mother's death. He then became so violent, cruel and horrible. Before I knew it, I was crying softly to myself. I hoped no one noticed. Unfortunately, I hear footsteps.

"Ethel? " A voice I recognize clearly to be Miss Peregrine's.

"Y-yes? " I answered, stuttering and not lifting my head up.

"What's the matter? " She asked, concerned.

"N-nothing... " I lied, hopping she'll give up asking and leave me alone.

Nope.

Didn't work.

Sigh.

"Ethel... I know when one of my wards are hurting. And you, my dear, are, " She answered coolly.

I sighed. "It's just... I miss my mother; I never knew much about her... " I admitted.

"I knew your mother... " Miss Peregrine suddenly told me.

"Y-YOU DID? " I exclaimed, loudly, shocked.

"Yes. " Miss Peregrine ignored the loudness of my voice.

"You may know her as Veronica Cassidy, but she was actually Athena Rose... "

I starred at her dumbfounded.

My mom didn't even tell me, her own daughter this information?

"I know what you're thinking Ethel, and no, she really did wish she could have shared this all with you, but she couldn't risk it, because then it would have been easier and faster for the hollows to find her and you, " Miss Peregrine explained.

"Your mother, was an extraordinary peculiar, if I am to be very honest. She had the ability to read minds, which is telepathy, and she could control the weather, " Miss Peregrine continued on.

This made sense.

Her abilities were passed on to me.

Not the telepathy part though.

"She wrote letters to me every day, until she died. And I have all the things, she wanted you to have and to read and know, " Miss Peregrine told Mr, smiling gently.

"Why did she leave, Miss Peregrine?" I asked curiously, looking at her like an innocent child.

Miss Peregrine sighed. I could tell that this was a very hard topic for her to talk about.

"She... Fell in love with an ordinary man... That was her downfall... " Miss Peregrine, said sadly, looking down.

"What happened? " I asked, carefully, not wanting to make Miss Peregrine break down.

"When we were performing for a circus one day, she met a boy and fell in love with him, " She continued.

"Oh... " was all that could come out of my mouth.

"Soon, both of them fell more and more in love with each other and eventually she wanted to leave, "

"To where? " I asked.

"Florida, America. " She answered.

That's weird, I never knew my parents first moved to Florida together. I've always lived in France. Until, my mother passed away. We then moved to Wales.

"Of course, I told her the dangers of leaving and she understood it. All of us tried to stop her from leaving but it didn't work. She wanted to leave either way. " Miss Peregrine concluded.

" I miss her... " I whimpered softly.

"I know... As do I... " Miss Peregrine whispered.

I could tell that the tall, slim, woman was sad for the loss of her ward.

I did the unexpectable. I ran towards her. I went into her arms and cried.

She was of course shocked at first. But then she smiled, and comforted me by soothing my back. After awhile, I finished crying for a good 30-45 minutes.

"I'm s-sorry... " I apologized.

Miss Peregrine just merely smiled at me.

"Nothing to apologize about. I understand. "

This is going to be a brand new beginning for me. I wonder what adventures are waiting for me.

 **A/N**  
 **I AM SO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING IN AGES. School, exams and life in general caused me to be super busy but I'm gonna update as much as I can! Do comment, and tell me what you think should happen next! Btw my freaking country banned this site which I'm so annoyed by so I'm using a special website to access it just for you guys :)) ily guys**


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

 **Recap: I had just broken down crying in front of Miss Peregrine because I just missed my mother so much. Surprisingly, Miss Peregrine had already started treating me as one of her ward. I had at first hesitantly but eventually opened up to her about my feelings and emotions. On a further note, I have just found out that my mother was a peculiar and a ward in Miss Peregrine's home and that she had two peculiarities. She also had been writing letters to Miss Peregrine during all these years and they're with me now.**

Ethel's POV:

Miss Peregrine had just left to attend to Claire as she was still a child and needed help with some things. I was left alone on the couch where I was crying earlier and I was just processing the information that had just been given to me by Miss Peregrine. My mother, whom I always knew as Veronica Cassidy was actually Athena Rose? No wonder my name was Ethel Alessandra Rose and not Ethel Alessandra Williams. In my hand, I had the letters Miss peregrine handed to me previously, containing my mother's letters over the years. I was remembering the times when she was still alive and we were the happiest people alive on earth. Mom would always play hide and seek with me during our free time back when I was 6 years old. Our time together would always result happy smiles and fill the room with laughter.

Normal POV:

Ethel sighed as she remembered all the good times back then. She was looking quite glum and melancholy. Enoch, suddenly walked into the living room and noticed her there looking all sad and gloomy. He thought that it must have been hard for her to take in the fact that she was a peculiar and she did not know about it till now and that her mother was dead. He then decided to try and comfort her, he hoped that she did not find him awkward or weird. He walked towards her and sat beside her on the couch and smiled, which was something that he hardly ever did.

"Hey, Ethel, right?" He started out, hoping she wouldn't ignore him, I mean he was trying hard to start a conversation, something that is normally hard for him.

To his delight, Ethel simply looked at him and smiled, a genuine smile.

"Yeah, I'm Ethel. That's me…" She rambled nervously. She saw his gorgeous hair and eyes. She felt her cheeks burning red as she was blushing so hard. She hoped he did not realise how hard she was blushing. Not that she was interested in him romantically but it's just that no boy had ever come to her before to talk to her.

Enoch chuckled softly at the sight.

"I'm guessing you were feeling a bit glum earlier on?" Enoch looked at her, with concern.

"Y-yeah… I…" She looked down, embarrassed that Enoch had taken notice of her.

"What's wrong? You can tell me anything. I know what it's like being the new kid and suddenly being able to live peacefully again, "Enoch shared.

"You do? "Ethel looked at him with her eyes wide open, clearly shocked.

Enoch merely just nodded.

"I used to be in a family where both my parents worked at a funeral parlour. I kind of grew up playing with dead things and bringing them to life for awhile, which could be why a lot of clients ran away from time to time I suppose, "Enoch shrugged and chuckled softly.

"Woah, I never knew that your parents worked at a funeral parlour, "Ethel commented.

"Well you wouldn't have because you're new and still getting to know everyone. Anyway, when I was about 12 or 13, my parents started to notice the things I could do and started to freak out a little I guess. Then, as my parents got more and more scared of me as well as my neighbours and everyone around me, they started calling me the freak or the weirdo. And so everyone started to treat me very badly, I'd get stares and taunts everytime I went somewhere. One day, I was chased by something, I didn't know what but I ran and ran until I passed out and when I woke up I saw myself in a beautifully furnished house and lots of kids looking at me along with woman staring at me. I then found out I was almost eaten alive by a hollow and Miss Avocet had thankfully come to my rescue. However, Miss Avocet's loop was then invaded and so I fled and Miss Peregrine found me and thus where I live now, "Enoch explained.

"Wow, I never knew, I'm so sorry… But it's just that I miss my mom a lot right now, no offence but like seeing you all here and Miss Peregrine just reminds me so much of her, "Ethel finally admitted, she's never really talked to boys before, besides her step brother, of course.

"Don't worry, you're not the only one who felt that way, "Enoch said, chuckling softly.

"I-I'm not?" Ethel exclaimed, raising a brow, looking at him puzzled.

"Course not, everyone has felt that way before when we first arrived here, "Enoch assured.

"That's correct, I was in a far worse state than you are right now actually, "Fiona joined in as she sat next to Enoch.

"She's right, she was emotionally unstable as well, "Enoch chuckled.

"Back home, I was known as the witch and everyone tried to kill me, so my father and I moved to a forest and lived there together. My mother died while she was giving birth to me and thus why there was only my father and I. However, one day tragedy struck hard and a monster was chasing after us, we couldn't see it but we could sort of make out where it was by the sound of it. I had never run so fast in my whole entire life that night, my father and I were running as fast as our legs could take us. Suddenly, we heard the footsteps of the monster come closer and closer. I was scared and my father told me to run ahead first while he would distract the monster, I was hesitant but obeyed anyway seeing that I had no other choice. I ran towards a large tree in front and used my powers to hide myself and waited for my father to look for me but it never happened. It was the last time I ever saw my father. He was actually the only family I had left and who knew and accepted my powers. Once I saw that the coast was clear, I came out from my hiding spot. I saw a dead body further behind with blood all over it, which had to be my father's. I was traumatized, I got on my knees and cried my lungs out. I kept repeating to myself that I was a freak and that it was all my fault. I hadn't realized how much energy I had used up by running and so I passed out. Before I did, all I remembered was seeing a dark blue Peregrine turning into a woman. When I awoke, I was on the couch, next to the woman along with a few other children. Miss Peregrine told me that I had almost been eaten by a wright when she had gotten to me. I told Miss Peregrine all the events that had happened and she took me in just like that. I'm forever grateful to her, honestly. But, it took me some time to adjust to the new environment and I do admit that I was emotionally unstable for the first few months here. I was extremely quiet and didn't really ask for much or talk much. But slowly, I began to open up more and more. During those months, I kept having dreams of my father and I and it really made me miss him a lot. Along with those dreams, I'd sometimes get nightmares of my father being taken away from me and him being killed right in front of me by the wrights. Eventually, I had more and more sleepless nights. Miss Peregrine noticed this immediately and whenever I was screaming in my sleep, she'd be there right next to me to comfort me and she even makes me hot chocolate sometimes and take me to her room to chat and sleep next to her. Don't worry, Ethel. I promise that it'll be fine, "Fiona smiled.

Ethel smiled back and hugged Fiona.

"Thanks Fiona, it makes me feel much better now," Ethel thanked her.

"No problem, I mean we're practically family now, and family takes care of one another, at least that's what Miss Peregrine would say," Fiona answered, grinning.

Ethel's POV:

That's right. We're all a family now. I could get used to having this family. I'm glad Miss Peregrine found me, it's as if the Gods above wanted this to happen. In all my 15 years of my life, this is by far the most loving family I've ever been in and I don't ever want to leave. I hope I won't make the same mistake my mother made which caused her to leave the world so early. I do look forward to getting to know everyone here though, I know that we'll all be a tight knitted family in no time.

 **Author's Note:**

 **Okay omg I'm so sorry it took so long to update this book** **I've been caught up with college stuff and now I'm on a long break so hopefully I can update more regularly rather than every few months omg. Anywayyyyy, I'm thinking of doing a book of Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children short stories. It'll be called Peculiar stories so do check it out when I've posted it :DD It'll be about stories like when one of the children get nightmares and Miss Peregrine is there to comfort the child, etc. Anywayyyy, EthelCBG out xD**


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